Port of Hamburg Sees Less Containerized Traffic in 2015

The German port of Hamburg has seen a downturn in seaborne container throughput, primarily attributable to lower volumes handled with China, Russia and Poland.

In total, handling with these trading partners fell by 800,000 containers (TEU).

In 2015, seaborne cargo throughput in the port was 5.4 percent lower at 137.8 million tonnes. Bulk cargo throughput grew by 5.8 per cent to 45.5 million tonnes, while container handling fell by 9.3 percent to 8.8 million TEU.

A large share of the cargo for China and Russia is transhipped via Hamburg, and loaded from oceangoing containerships onto feeders.

Port of Hamburg said that container traffic with China and with Russia, which fell by 14.4 percent and 34.4 percent, respectively, could not be offset in volume by growth in container traffic with other countries such as Malaysia, India, the United Arab Emirates or Mexico.

The fall in seaborne container traffic with Polish ports has also been caused by liner container services calling Gdansk, without transhipment at one of the North Range ports.

“Among the ports of Northern Europe, the Port of Hamburg has maintained its strong position on container traffic with the Baltic region. Compared to ports such as Antwerp and Rotterdam, Hamburg reports around seven percent higher proportion of transhipment cargo,” said Axel Mattern, Member of the Port of Hamburg Marketing Executive Board.

Additionally, the port experienced a growth in bulk cargo throughput which increased by 9.2 per cent to 22.3 million tonnes. The port recorded an increase of 27.3 percent in coal imports, bringing the total amount to 7.7 million tonnes. The port’s suction cargo grew by 12.4 percent to 9.2 million tonnes, while grains exports were up by 28.8 per cent at 4.2 million tonnes.

Liquid cargo throughput fell by a 2.6 per cent to 14 million tonnes in 2015.

In 2015 throughput of non-containerized general cargoes, for example out-of-gauge plant elements and RoRo cargo, totalled 1.7 million tonnes, remaining 14.1 per cent below the results measured in 2014.